Surfaces to the cylinders of rotary



Sept. 6, 1932. M. L. WILKINSON ET AL 1,876,378

LOCKING OF STEREOPLATES OR PRINTING SURFACES TO THE CYLINDERS OF ROTARY PRINTING MACHINES Filed March 25, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet l S p M. L. WILKINSON ET AL LOCKING OF STEREOPLATES OR PRINTING SURFACES TO THE CYLINDERS OF ROTARY PRINTING MACHINES 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 25. 1951 III] IIIIIHIJIIIII 97/1/1102 Z Wm M 7 r 6 V 3 EJK 3 WWW M A Patented Sept. 6, 1932 cnrrsn era-res MATTHIAS LEWIS WILKINSON AND ROBERT BRADSHAW, OF PRESTON, ENGLAND Loe'Kme or srnnnornn rns on 'rnrnrrno Application filed March 25, 1931, Serial No.

This invention relates to iniprovedmeans for locking stereo plates or printing surfaces to the cylinders of rotary printing machines.

In the case of four plate wide rotary printing presses it is usual to secure the plates by utilizing the centre margin ring as an abutment for the inner sides of the two innerplates, then to engage the outer sides of the inner plates by means of dogs sliding in grooves or dog-ways in the cylinder, then to fit the two outside plates with their inner edges against the dogs and finally to press the outer edges of the outside plates towards the dogs by means of outer dogs which are then looked in osition. Thus the inner plates are locke through the medium of the outer plates. The dogs engaging the inner plates in this arran ement are pushed into position individually by hand while the dogs engaging the outer sides of the outside plates are operated by screwed rods mounted in the end plates of the cylinder. The rods are fitted with gear wheels which gear with other wheels carried on the-end plates so that on turning .one of the rods all the rods relating to a particular set of plates are turned. 7 7

- With this arrangement, it it-is desired to remove the inner plate from one half of the cylinder this can only be done by first releasing the outer plate and leaving it unsecured. Since theouter plate is unsecured the cylinder-cannot be turned to attend to a plate'on the diametrically opposite side and the outer plate must also be removed. This is disadvantage in practice and in addition cer- 'tain of the dogs must be operated individually by hand.

The present invention has for its object to provide improved locking means wherein the naming of individual dogs by hand is obviated and whereby the plates may be locked independently, thus overcoming the disadvantages referred to above. According toQthe inventiomthe locking arrangement is such that the negessary dogs'are alloperated by screwed rods or the like from the ends of the cylinder and there is no necessity to move any of the dogs individually by hand. The outside plates with their looking PRINTING SURFACES-TO THE oYL-Innrins OFROTARY MACHINES 525,280, and in Great Britain April 1, 1930.

dogs can benioved to release the inner plates without unlocklng them or removingthem so that the inn-erplates can he removed and 7 in which Fig. 1 is a longitudinal sectional elevation of a portion of one half of a four plate wide cylinder, having one form of the invention applied thereto and Fig. 2 is an end elevation thereof.

Figs. 3, 4v and 5 are sectional elevations of details of the locking mechanism.

Fig. 6 is an end elevation of a portion of the cylinder.

Fig. 7 is a view similar to Fig. 1 but showing a modified form of the invention, and

Fig. 8 is an end elevation thereof.

Figs. ,9 and lOar-e sectional elevations of details of the locking mechanism drawn to a larger scale. r

Fig. 11 is a view similar to Fig. 1 of a further form of the inventionadapted for use in looking stereo plates of varying widths and Fig. 12 is a sectional view of a. detail of the locking mechanism drawn to a larger scale.

Referring first to Figs. "16 inclusive; It will be understood that Fig. 1 represents the :upper portion-of one half only of a four plate wide cylinder 1 showing two plates 19,20, the centre mar-gin 18, and one set of locking means for these two plates only. In the complete cylinder similar plates and locking means are provided on the other upper half and also on the lower halves or the cylinder. The pairs of plates are locked by a series of dogs arranged in grooves around the periphery of each half of the cylinder, the operating means being arranged around the corresponding halves of the end plates as shown in Fig. 2. The other half or" the periphery will have two more pairs of plates with a similar series of dogs and grooves and the locking means will be arranged around the lower half of the end plates as shown in Fig. 2. The locking means on each end plate are exactly the same. The following description refers to the upper portion of one half only of the cylinder 1.

As shown the half cylinder 1 is provided with two sets of dogs 2 and 3 slidably mounted in grooves 6. From Fig. 2 it will be seen that there are four sets of grooves 6 each with a set ofdogs therein.

Since the construction and operation of each set oi dogs is the same, only one set will be described with reference to Fig. 1. The dog 3 is mounted on an externally threaded hollow sleeve 5, the outer end of which is flanged and formed with gear teeth a. Through this sleeve a rod 4 passes freely, having a screwed end which engages a screwed opening in the dog 2. The screwed portions of the rod 4: and the sleeve 5 have the same number of threads per inch and the outer end of the rod is flanged and formed with gear teeth 40., equal in number to the teeth 5a. The rod 4 is supported in the end plate and a packing piece 16 is introduced between the end of the cylinder and the plateto form an annular recess for containing the various gear wheels. As shown in Fig. 2 in which the plate 15 is partially broken awaythere are four rods 4 and between each pair of rods a pair of gear wheels 7 and 8, Figs. 2 to 6, are mounted which gear with the wheels 5a and 4a respectively on the adjacent rods. Each pair of wheels 7 and 8 are mounted as shownin Fig. 4,

that is to say the wheel 7 is integral with a spindle 7 a supported in a hole in the cylinder end and in the end plate 15, while the wheel 8 is freely mounted on said spindle 7a. The pair of wheels 7, 8 mounted between the central pair of grooves 6 (Fig. 2) are intended to control the operation of the other wheels and to this end, as shown in Figs. 2, 3, 5 and 6 the spindle supporting the wheel 8 of this pair is squared at the outer end So and the wheel 8 is formed with a boss having clutch teeth 86 formed thereon. The squared end 8a of the spindle carries a sliding cap 9 having clutch teeth 9a adapted to engage the teeth 8?) and the outer surface of the cap is squared. The squared portion 8a of the spindle is formed with two recesses (not shown) and spring pressed ball 13 inside the cap 9 is adapted to snap into one or other of the recesses to hold the cap either in clutching engagement with the wheel boss or out of engagement.

If the squared cap 9 be turned with a spanner or key when in the clutched position the wheels 7 and 8 will turn as one and will similarly turn all the wheels 4a and 5a on the other rods 4. Fig. 5 shows the clutched position. If the cap 9 is turned when in the unclutched position (Fig. 3) then only the wheels 7 and 5a of the series will be rotated.

It will be seen that rotation of the wheels 7 and 8 simultaneously rotates the rods 4 and sleeves 5, and thus simultaneously moves the sets of dogs 2 and 3 backwards or forwards according to the direction of rotation of the wheels and since the sleeves and rods have screw threads of equal pitch the relative positions of the dogs in each set remains unchanged. If the cap 9 is turned in the unclutched position then only the sleeves 5 and consequently the dogs 3 will move. Thus an adjustment of the dogs 2 and 3 as a pair and of the dogs 3 as units is possible in each set.

In setting up the plates on the cylinder,

plate 19 is laid in position in the margin ring 18 and with the cap 9 in the clutched position (Fig. 5) a spanner is appliedthereto and the nut is turned to cause the dogs 2 and 3 to move forward until the dogs 2 are pressed home against the plate 19, locking it firmly. The plate is then laid in position, the cap 9 is unclutched (Fig. 3) and again rotated causing only the dogs 3 to move up and secure the plate 20. clutched and turned in the opposite direc tion, the plate 20 will be moved away releasing the plate 19, but it will still be firmly held on the cylinder and when the plate 19 has been removed the cylinder can be safely rotated for operations on the opposed halt if desired. It the cap is unclutched and rotated in the opposite direction then only the dogs 3 are released and the plate 20 can be removed without disturbing the plate 19.

Thus it will be seen that the plate 19 can be secured without the usual distancepiece which is usually pushed up against the dog 2 according to present practice to hold the plate 19 when the plate 20 has been re moved to allow the cylinder to be rotated. In the present case the distance piece 21 Fig. 1 is only needed to fill up the grooves 6 between the dogs 2 and 3 to support the underside of the plate 20 where it bridges the grooves.

Referring now to Figs. 71() inclusive. In this casethe plates 19, 20 are held in position by the dogs 22, 23 slidable in the grooves 6 and by the centre margin ring 18as before. The dogs 22, 23 are mounted on screwed spindles 24 supported at their outer ends in a thrust plate 26 slidably mounted on the spindle of the cylinder. The dogs .23 are tapped but the dogs 22' are plain drilled. Each spindle 24 is tormed with a gear wheel 2 1a and the gear wheels are interconnected round the half of the cylinder end by the gear wheels 28 and 30. The screwed ends of the spindles 24: engage tapped collars 27 and the If the cap 9 is homers outer ends '01 the spindles pass through the thrust plate 26and carry squaredcaps 25.

Distance pieces 28-?) areprovided. The gear wheel 28 is loosely mounted on a. shoulder 28a on the thrust plate screw 32 (Fig. 9) and bears against a tapped collar 29 as "shown. 1

The gear Wheels '30 "are loosely mounted on thrust plate guide pii'rs '31 (Fig. 1-0,).

WVith the above described arrangement, if one of the squared caps 25 be turned in the proper direction only the dogs 23 will move, the dogs 22 remaining in position. Thus the plate 20 can be removed without disturbing the plate 19, but if the cylinder is to be turned without removing the plate 19 then the latter can be locked by turning the cap 25 to cause the dogs 23 to force the distance piece 28?),

into locking engagement with the dogs 22. To remove the inside plates 19 without removing the plates 20, the squared end of the thrust plate screw 32 is appropriately turned. This causes the thrust plate to be withdrawn from the body of the cylinder simultaneously withdrawing the dogs 23, 22. Thus the plates 19 are released and can be removed while the plates 20 remain locked to the cylinder.

The above described arrangement is for use with stereo plates of constant width or of varying width.

Figs. 11 and 12 inclusive show an arrangement for use with stereo plates in which the number of columns are varied.

In this arrangement the plates 19, 20 are held by the centre margin ring 18 and dogs 22, 23 as before and the dogs are operated by a thrust plate 26 and screwed spindles 24 n and gear wheels 24a, 30 as in Figs. 7-10. But 40 to allow for the varyin size of the plates clutch members are introduced into the spindles 24 to facilitate the setting of the dogs 22, 23. As shown in Figs. 11 and 12, slidable clutch member 33 is mounted on the geared spindle 24, a key 34 ensuring that the clutch member 33 rotates with the spindle.

The clutch member 33 is formed with teeth 39 and tommy holes 38 and a spring pressed ball 35 is fitted into the spindle adapted to engage with either of the pockets 36, 37

formed in the clutch member. The inner dog 22 is tapped and mounted on a screwed spindle 41, which is a continuation of the spindle 24 and carries a clutch member 42 secured to the spindle 24 by a screw 40. The pitch of the thread of the spindle 41 is half that of the spindle 24.. The clutch member 42 is formed with tommy holes 44 and teeth 43. A small clearance-is provided on each side of the head of the screw so that the spindle 24 can rotate freely and independently of the clutch member 42.

Vvith the clutch member 42 and 33 disengaged the operations are as previously described with reference to Figs. 7-10 inclusive,

the screw 40 .in conjunction with the-clutch member 42 and the dog screw 41 serving the same purpose as the collars 27 in Fig. 7.

The operation for changing over to the different column widths of stereo plates is as ing position suitable for narrower or wider plates, the dogs 22 traversinghalt the dis :tance of the dogs 23. The clutch members 33 are disengaged when the change ove-ris completed and are restrained from endmovement by the ball 33 engaging the pocket 36. The clutch member 42 maybe used to eiiect a fine individual setting 201" the dogs 22 by in sorting-a tool in the tommy holes 44 and turning the screws 41. V

Although locking means employing sepa rate dogs has been described it will be understood -th'at the series of dogs may be constructed and mounted in any other suitable manner to accomplish the purposes invention. I

Hav'ing thus described the nature of our said invention andthe best means welrnow of carrying the same-into practical ei'iect, we

of this claim 1. Means for locking printing plates on aprinting cylinder, comprising a plurality of independent loclnng dogs adapted 'to be 'i-novab ly mounted on a printing-cylinder for engagement respectively with the several plates thereof, meansfcr independently operating one of the dogs to release one of the printing plates from the cylinder, and connecting means for causing simultaneous operation of the dogs for releasing a second plate from the printing cylinder.

2. Means i or locking printing plates on-a printing cylinder, comprising inner andouter lochin-g dogs adapted to be mounted on-a cylinder between inner and outer plates thereof for holding the plates to the cylinder, independent screw members mounted on the cylinder and operable from the end thereofand connected independently to said loclting dogs, means iior turningone of said screw members for movin g the respective do to release one of said'plates independently of the other, and coupling means between the screw elements for 1 simultaneously operating thesa'me-to ltreea second plate independently of the first plate. 7

3. Means for locking printing plateson a printing cylinder, comprising acentral inar .gin ring, a pair of spaced loclnng dogs mounted on the cylindensaid dogs and ring adapted, to receive :therebetween inner and outer ,printin g .plates, independent-operating means operable from the end \of the cylinder Tandconnected to -said dogs, one of said means adapted for actuation to release the outermost dog to free the outer plate without releasing the inner plate, and coupling means for said operating means for simultaneously 1 actuating the latter to move both of said dogs to maintain the outer plate in engagement with the cylinder and to free the inner plate therefrom.

4. Locking means for printing plates on a printing cylinder, comprising a cylinder body having longitudinal grooves therein, a central margin ring on the cylinder at the inner end of the groove, a pair of locking dogs slidably mounted in the groove, independent threaded means operable from the end of the cylinder and extending into the groove and connected to said locking dogs for independently actuating the same to clamp inner and outer plates on the cylinder, one of said operating means adapted for operation to release the outer dog and free the outer plate, and coupling means for said operating means to actuate the same simulta neously to free the inner plate from the margin ring and the inner dog without freeing the outer plate.

5. Means for locking printing plates on a printing cylinder, comprising a cylinder having a central margin ring and a groove extending lengthwise from the end of the cylinder, inner and outer locking dogs slidably mounted in said groove of the cylinder and adapted to hold inner and outer printing plates between the dogs and the inner dog and the margin ring, an internally threaded sleeve carried by the outer dog, a second internal sleeve carried by the inner dog, a rod extending from the end of the cylinder and having threads upon its inner end engaging in the sleeve of the inner dog for moving the dog when the rod is turned, a threaded hollow rod around said first rod and freely movable thereon and engaged in threaded relation with the sleeve of the outer dog for moving the latter when the outer rod is turned, means for turning said outer rod to move the outer dog and release the outer plate, and means for simultaneously moving the inner and outer rods for simultaneously moving said inner and outer dogs to hold the outer plate in interlocked engagement on the cylinder and for freeing the inner plate there from.

6. Means for locking printing plates on a printing cylinder, comprising a cylinder body having a longitudinal groove therein and a central margin ring, a pair of locking clogs slidably mounted in the groove of the cylinder and adapted to engage inner and outer plates between the ring and the inner dog and between the inner and outer dogs, a threaded shaft in said groove extending from the end of the cylinder and threaded through the outer dog and slidably engaging through the inner dog, an abutment car ried upon the inner end of the threaded shaft to engage the inner dog, means for turning the shaft to adjust the outer dog, and means for moving the shaft longitudinally in the groove for moving both the inner and outer' do s.

in testimony whereof we have signed our names to this specification.

MATTHIAS LEWIS WILKINSON. F RQBERT BRADSHAl V.

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